Daily Gratitude: “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.”

People always say I have a lot of perseverance because I kept applying to medical school. They sometimes say the same when I talk about walking 314 miles at Vol State.

Neither fits IF you use the first part of this quote.

But both fit using the second part.

All I knew was that I was destined to be a doctor. Also I knew how to do absolutely nothing else. So This is how it went.
• I’d apply to medical school
• I’d wait for results
• I’d get rejected
• I’d be extremely upset and depressed
• I’d go find more schools to apply to.
• The cycle would be repeated.

Each cycle was pretty simple. I found schools. Then I applied. Then I waited.

Eventually I found a school that would accept me and I got in.

It took a long time but each cycle (each race per this quote) was short and simple.

Let’s look at vol state.
• I’d decide what my 12 hour goal was (we check in every 12 hours)
• Often, depending on how I felt, I’d change that goal- to something shorter like “to the next guardrail” or “the next Dollar General or gas station”.
• I’d do that distance
• I’d pick another goal and go for that.

Only once in all the times I’ve done this race did I think “oh no, there’s still 300 miles to go”, or “I can’t do this for 9 more days”. That was a big mistake. And I quickly fought those thoughts.

It was just a bunch of short races one after the other.

If you break down any project into bits and pieces, and tackle them separately, anything can be accomplished.

Pick something that’s been bugging you and try this.